Cleveland Law Library Weblog

Local Municipal Judgeships Up for Election

Next week on November 3rd, several area municipal court judgeships will be up for election at the polls. Three candidates are running for 1 judicial seat in Bedford, but there is only 1 contested race of the 5 races in which incumbants are seeking re-election in Cleveland Municipal Court. Judge Patrick Carroll is running unopposed in Lakewood, but Parma's Judge Gilligan is being challenged by Edmund Tallos. County-wide voting information can be found on the website for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

2009 Judicial Candidates Can Receive 15% More in Contributions

Beginning with new campaigns that can start on Monday, January 5th, supporters can now contribute 15% more than last year to their favorite judicial candidates. According to changes adopted by the Ohio Supreme Court last month, increases in the CPI over the last 4 years warranted raising the limits. However, candicates who are still collecting money for 2008 campaigns will have to live with the old caps. The Ohio Supreme Court's Press Release contains a handy table of the new limits, which start at $575.00 by an individual for a juidicial candidate in a small Common Pleas, Muni or County court, and max out at $316,250 by a political party for a Supreme Court justice in a general election.

Judge4yourself.com Rates 2008 Judicial Candidates

If you have not already voted and need help deciding which judges to vote for locally and on the Ohio Supreme Court, check out judge4yourself.com. This website provides biographical information on each of the candidates running for office in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, Domestic Relations Court, Probate Court, the 8th District Court of Appeals, and the Ohio Supreme Court. The site also provides ratings for each judge by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the Cuyahoga Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Norman S. Minor Bar Association, the Ohio Women's Bar Association, the Call & Post, and The Plain Dealer. The four (4) associations listed are members of the Judicial Candidates Rating Coalition.

11th Congressional District Residents Will Have to Vote 3 or More Times

In the wake of the Congressional vacancy created by the untimely death of respected U.S. Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, (see our prior post), the Plain Dealer reports that the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is going to have to schedule a primary and general election to fill her seat in Congress. This, on top of coordinating the November presidential election, will give 11th District residents 3 voting opportunities in the next few months. Make that 4 possible elections for Cleveland Ward 7 residents who live in the 11th District and were represented by former Cleveland Councilwoman Fannie M. Lewis, who recently passed away on August 11, 2008. The Plain Dealer indicates that although the elections would be very expensive if separately held, some cost savings could be achieved by coordinating the dates of the votes and using the November voting equipment.

Has There Been An Admission Against Interest in the Voting Machine Debacle?

Is the news from Premier Election Solutions, Inc. on msnbc.com an admission against interest (under Ohio Evidence Rule 804(B)(3)) by the maker of Cuyahoga's County's former voting machines? The article indicates that Premier has just stated in a product advisory that there is a problem with its voting machines that drops votes. The article also indicates that Cuyahoga polling officials apparently found and corrected the problem in the March elections when they were using the memory cards that were not being read properly. Except for Cuyahoga County, Ohio is apparently going forward with using Premier's machines in November, with adequate safeguards to make sure no votes are lost. For information about prior blame Premier placed for the problem, the Ohio Secretary of State's suit against Premier, and Premier's suit against Cuyahoga County, see our prior post.

Ohio Secretary of State Sues Over Voting Machines

The Ohio Secretary of State has filed suit against Premier Election Solutions in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, alleging breach of warranty, breach of contract and fraud, in connection with problems that occurred at polls in 11 counties during the March 2008 elections. Although the Plain Dealer reports that the problem with votes being dropped was corrected when the votes were counted manually, the Secretary of State is suing for unspecified damages over what Premier claims was a conflict between its elections software and an anti-virus program. Cick here to read our prior post about Premier's May 2008 suit against Cuyahoga County and the Secretary of State.

Ohio Secretary of State Ordered to Revise Election Guidelines

The Federal Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently ordered Ohio's Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, to restructure Ohio's guidelines for including candidates on the ballot.  The Libertarian Party challenged its exclusion from November's Presidential election under Ohio's election guidelines.  Until this decision, Ohio required a party to gather valid signatures in the amount of at least one half of a percent of the total vote in 2006 or at least five percent of the last election's votes.  According to the District Court's holding in the Libertarian Party of Ohio v. Brunner, case number C2-08-555, Judge Edmund Sargus held that where the party seeking to be placed on the ballot demonstrates the "requisite community support", that party must be included on the ballot. Ohio Election law may be found in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 35.  For further information, please see the New York Times article.

Cuyahoga County Sued Over Voting Machines

Newsnet5.com reports that Premier Election Solutions has sued Cuyahoga County, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners, and the Ohio Secretary of State in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, Case No.08 CV 007841, claiming that it fulfilled its contractual obligations regarding supplying voting machines. In an attempt to pre-empt a suit by the County, Premier in effect is seeking a declaratory judgment that it has no contractual obligations to either the County or the State. Forbes reports that Premier blames the local Board of Elections and poll workers for problems in the May 2006 election. Cuyahoga County has apparently threatended to sue over spending $22 million in about 2 years for allegedly defective voting machines the County only used through the November 2007 elections.

Ohio Supreme Court Candidates Sign "Clean Campaign Agreement"

All of the candidates running for positions on the Ohio Supreme Court have signed a "Clean Campaign Agreement." The Ohio State Bar Association's Judicial Election Campaign Advertising Monitoring Committee recently announced that Justice Maureen O'Connor, Judge Joseph D. Russo, Judge Peter M. Sikora, and Justice Evelyn L. Stratton have all signed the agreement to take personal responsibility for the contents of their election advertisements and statements. In also requiring these candidates to steer clear of negative campaigning that impunes the judicial system or fellow candidates, the OSBA and its President, Robert Ware, are hoping to instead focus the election on "credentials, judicial temperament and experience...that demonstrate the dignity and respect the office deserves."

Cuyahoga County to Switch Voting Equipment Again

The Plain Dealer reports that voters will have to contend with yet another voting system for the November 2008 presidential election. The local Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has scrapped plans to use "central-count" optical scan machines it rented for the March primary and will change to "precinct-based" optical scanning machines for November. These new machines would apparently allow voters to review their ballot choices before their votes are counted and they leave the polls. Whether the county will buy or rent this new equipment is still up-in-the-air, but vendors are scheduled to provide quotes by April 28th in anticipation of making formal presentations on May 1st.